Ben Crane holds 4-stroke lead in 3rd round of St. Jude Classic

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Ben Crane went more than 28 hours between competitive shots due to weather delays, and he stayed atop the leaderboard through six holes Saturday before another storm stopped play again at the St. Jude Classic.

Crane birdied his first hole, putting him at 13 under for the tournament. After that, no one got closer than four strokes at rain-softened TPC Southwind.

Troy Merritt, a group ahead of Crane, was at 9 under, with playing partner Peter Malnati at 8 under. Billy Horschel, Retief Goosen and Camilo Villegas were at 7 under on their front nines.

Phil Mickelson, who hasn’t won in 19 straight events dating to the British Open, had pars on each of his first nine holes and was at 5 under. He’s using the event to tune up for the U.S. Open next week at Pinehurst.